Watchdog urges Security Council to ensure UN deployment in Darfur
Mar 17, 2006 (NEW YORK) — The United Nations Security Council must ensure that civilians in Darfur are protected from further attacks and that the Sudanese government stops obstructing a U.N. force, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council released yesterday.
The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to meet on March 21 to discuss the situation in Darfur and the status of a proposed U.N. mission in the region.
“The Security Council must show the Sudanese government that enough is enough,” said Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “Civilians in Darfur need protection now, not at some later date when it’s politically convenient for Sudanese officials implicated in war crimes to accept it.”
On March 10, the African Union extended the mandate of its own 7,000-strong force in Darfur for six months, but agreed in principle to an eventual transition to a U.N. mission.
The Sudanese government launched a major anti-U.N. campaign in the weeks prior to that decision, has stated that any U.N. mission can only enter Darfur following a peace agreement, and continues to block the entry into Sudan of a U.N. preliminary planning mission.
Human Rights Watch called on the Security Council to immediately proceed with steps to establish a U.N. operation on or by October 1, 2006, including technical planning and adopting a resolution authorizing the force. The African Union force has stated that it will remain in Darfur through September 30, 2006.
“The Sudanese government is blocking a U.N. force because it fears a larger, better-equipped force might hinder its abusive agenda in Darfur,” said Takirambudde. “The Security Council should apply sanctions to senior government officials and extend the arms embargo throughout Sudan to prompt an immediate change of policy in Khartoum.”
The African Union force requires substantial international donor support to bolster its troops and sustain operations in the interim six-month period.
Civilians continue to be attacked and terrorized in Darfur, despite efforts by the African Union force to improve the security situation. Displaced people face almost daily attacks from government-backed Janjaweed militia, including rape and sexual assaults on women and girls.
Militia groups have also launched cross-border raids on villages in Chad, looting property and livestock. Banditry and attacks against humanitarian aid convoys have severely limited humanitarian relief activities in West Darfur, leading the U.N. refugee agency to halve its operating budget in Darfur.
The Sudanese government continues to arm and support the Janjaweed militia and has extended support to Chadian rebel groups operating out of Darfur. Despite committing to cease aerial attacks, the Sudanese government has also re-deployed helicopter gunships in Darfur in the past months. Both the government and rebel forces are responsible for numerous ceasefire violations in the past few months.
– To read the letter from Human Rights Watch to the U.N. Security Council, please visit:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/03/16/sudan13019.htm
(HRW/ST)